Next Game
The MVC title is on the line on Saturday when Creighton (23-7, 12-5 MVC) hosts Wichita State (24-6, 12-5 MVC) in the regular-season finale for both teams.
The game will tip at 1:05 pm at CenturyLink Center Omaha (17,390) in Omaha, Neb.
Creighton will honor Taylor Stormberg, Gregory Echenique, Josh Jones, Grant Gibbs and Joe Kelling following the game as part of Senior Day festivities.
The game is sold out.

Radio Broadcast Information
KXSP (“AM 590 - Omaha’s ESPN Radio”) will broadcast all Creighton men’s basketball games, including Saturday’s Senior Day. T. Scott Marr and Nick Bahe will call the action. The audio is also webcast live at www.AM590espnradio.com.

Television Information
Saturday’s game will be broadcast to a nationwide audience by ESPN2, with Rich Hollenberg and Mark Adams on the call.

Webcast Information
Saturday’s game can be viewed via WatchESPN, at http://es.pn/mbb-WSUvsCREIGHTON.

Live Stats Information
All of Creighton’s games this season will have free live stats. Visit www.gocreighton.com and click on the Live Stats tab on the top of the page for a link the exact URL.
Home games can also be followed by those who have mobile devices with internet capability at www.gocreightonstats.com.

White-Out Planned
CU Athletics is requesting all fans wear a white shirt on Saturday to create a “white-out” effect.
Official “White Out” shirts are available for purchase at the following Lawlor’s Custom Sportswear locations: Westroads Mall, Oakview Mall and the Superstore located at 84th & J Streets.

Scouting Creighton
Creighton is 23-7 this season (12-5 MVC) and tied for first place heading into the MVC regular-season finale.
The Jays started the season impressively with an 11-1 record in pre-conference play. The start includes victories over NCAA hopefuls Wisconsin, Akron, Cal and Arizona State, as well as triumphs over league favorites from the Atlantic-10 (Saint Joseph’s) and Sun Belt (North Texas).
Junior forward Doug McDermott (22.8 ppg., 7.7 rpg.) is the nation’s only returning First Team All-American and was named the Midseason National Player of the Year by Dick Vitale, Seth Davis, Mike DeCourcy and Andy Katz (among others). McDermott has been named MVC Player of the Week seven times this year and is 54-for-107 from three-point range in the past 24 games. On Feb. 16th, he became the first junior in MVC history to surpass 2,000 career points.
Second on the team in scoring is senior center Gregory Echenique (9.6 ppg., 6.6 rpg., 1.5 bpg.). Echenique has led the MVC in blocked shots each of the past two years.
Creighton also boasts a veteran backcourt consisting of Grant Gibbs (8.6 ppg., 5.8 apg., 4.2 rpg.), Austin Chatman (7.6 ppg., 4.3 apg.) and Jahenns Manigat (6.1 ppg.). Gibbs and Chatman rank first and third in the MVC in assists, while Manigat led The Valley in league play in three-point percentage a year ago.
Creighton’s bench is led by sharpshooter Ethan Wragge (7.7 ppg.), who is fourth in the MVC with 65 three-pointers made and has drilled six three-pointers in a game on three occasions this season.
Creighton is third in the nation in three-point percentage (.418), and field goal percentage (.505), fourth in assists per game (17.2), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.42), seventh in three-pointers per game (8.8) and ninth in points (2,275), while also outrebounding foes by 4.9 caroms a game. CU scores 75.8 points per game.

Scouting Wichita State
Despite losing four starters from last year’s 27-6 MVC regular-season champion, Wichita State is 24-6 this season and tied for the Valley lead with a 12-5 league mark.
Junior college transfer Cleanthony Early has made an immediate impact, averaging 14.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. He scored 39 in a win earlier this year vs. Southern Illinois and is a leading candidate for MVC Newcomer of the Year accolades.
Reigning MVC Newcomer of the Year Carl Hall averages 12.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game inside. He missed seven games earlier this year with a broken thumb, but remains one of the league’s top interior players.
WSU guards Malcolm Armstead (10.0 ppg., 1.9 spg.) and Demetric Williams (8.5 ppg., 2.4 apg.) give the Shockers a pair of veteran guards in the backcourt.
As a team, WSU averages 69.4 points per game while holding foes to 59.8 per contest. The Shockers shoot 44.5 percent from the field and outrebound foes by 8.4 boards per game.

The CoachesGreg McDermott (Northern Iowa, 1988) is in his third season as head coach at Creighton. He led CU to a 29-6 mark last year, and is now 75-29 with the Bluejays. McDermott has previously been a head coach at Iowa State (2006-10), Northern Iowa (2001-06), North Dakota State (2000-01) and Wayne State (1994-2000). He owns a career mark of 355-224 in 19 seasons and is 224-160 in 12 Division I campaigns. McDermott is assisted by Darian DeVries, Steve Lutz and Steve Merfeld.
Wichita State is coached by Gregg Marshall (Randolph-Macon, 1985), who owns a 1133-68 mark in his sixth year with the Shockers. That moves his career mark to 327-151 in 15 years, which includes a highly successful run at Winthrop. He is assisted by K.T. Turner, Greg Heiar and Chris Jans.

The Series With Wichita State
Creighton leads the all-time series with Wichita State by a 53-45 margin. The Jays have won 29-of-40 and 36-of-50 vs. the Shockers in recent seasons.Greg McDermott is 8-8 all-time vs. Wichita State (1-4 as Creighton coach), including a 4-3 record in home games.
McDermott is 1-4 against Gregg Marshall. Marshall is 6-6 against Creighton.
Creighton’s series history vs. Wichita State can be found on page 11 of these notes.

Last Game Recap
Creighton used a 31-6 run in the second half to post an 80-62 win at Bradley on Wednesday. Doug McDermott led the Jays with 32 points and 11 rebounds. Creighton won the rebound battle, 41-20.

What To Watch For
A few facts and figures to keep an eye on during Saturday’s game.
-Creighton seeks to win its Senior Day for the 17th straight time (when it has a senior).
-Creighton can set a school-record with 53 wins in a two-year span.
-The winner of Saturday’s game will be the outright regular-season MVC champion and clinch the No. 1 seed at next week’s MVC Tournament.
-Ethan Wragge needs two three-pointers to pass Rodney Buford (212) for third on Creighton’s career list in three-pointers.
-Doug McDermott is 17 points shy of becoming the first player in Creighton history to score 700 points in multiple seasons.
-Greg McDermott owns 224 career Division I wins in 12 seasons on the sideline.
-With a win Creighton can finish 8-1 in MVC play at home, matching the school’s best mark at CenturyLink Center Omaha (also done in 2003-04, 2005-06, 2006-07).

All In
Saturday will mark just the third time in the last 30 years that two teams tied for first place will face each other to end the regular-season with the outright MVC title on the line.
It happened in 1985 when Tulsa defeated Wichita State, and also occured two seasons ago in 2011 when Missouri State topped the Shockers.

Winner Take All
The winner of Saturday’s game will claim the MVC regular-season title, and the No. 1 seed at next week’s Arch Madness in St. Louis.
Creighton can clinch its eighth outright MVC title with a win, and first such crown since 2000-01.
Wichita State is also seeking its eighth outright MVC crown, and second consecutive.
CU’s current haul of 14 regular-season titles (7 outright, 7 shared) is twice as many as any other current league foe (Wichita State, 7 outright, 0 shared; Southern Illinois, 4 outright, 3 shared).
MVC History - Most Regular-Season Titles
15 - Oklahoma State (11 outright, 4 shared)
14 - Creighton (7 outright, 7 shared)
13 - Kansas (10 outright, 3 shared)
7 - Southern Illinois, Cincinnati, Wichita State
6 - Bradley, Louisville, Tulsa, Drake

Past MVC Titles
Creighton owns seven outright titles in its history, most recently in 2000-01. CU also won outright crowns in 1990-91, 1988-89, 1977-78, 1942-43, 1940-41 and 1931-32. Only Oklahoma State (11) and Kansas (10) own more outright MVC titles than Creighton.
Creighton owns seven shared titles as well, most recently in 2008-09. CU also shared titles in 2001-02, 1941-42, 1935-36, 1934-35, 1930-31 and 1929-30. Creighton’s seven shared titles are three more than any other team (Oklahoma State, 4).
Creighton also owns a record 11 MVC Tournament titles all-time, including 2012. The Jays also won the Valley Tournament in 2007, 2005, 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999, 1991, 1989, 1981 and 1978.

Home Season Finales
Creighton is 16-1 in the last 17 years in its final home game of the regular-season, including a 5-0 mark vs. Wichita State.
CU’s last loss in a regular-season home finale came on a senior-less team in 2002 to Drake. The Jays have won 16 straight Senior Day’s when they have at least one senior dating to a 1994-95 setback vs. Southern Illinois.

Senior Day To Honor Five
Following Saturday’s game, Creighton will honor five men playing in their final home game; Gregory Echenique, Taylor Stormberg, Josh Jones, Grant Gibbs and Joe Kelling, as part of Senior Day festivities.
During the past four years, the Jays have gone 93-45 while appearing in the postseason every season and claiming the 2008-09 MVC regular-season title and 2012 MVC Tournament title.

Big Game Upon Us
Saturday’s game featuring Wichita State (24-6) and Creighton (23-7) will be the nation’s first game this season amongst teams with 23 or more Division I wins.
It will also be the first home game in Creighton history pitting two teams with 23 or more wins against each other.

Looking Ahead To St. Louis
Tenth-seeded Southern Illinois is the only club that has locked up its seed for next week’s MVC Tournament. The winner of Saturday’s Creighton-Wichita State game will earn the No. 1 seed, while the loser will be the No. 2 seed.
ARCH MADNESS SEEDS/POSSIBILITIES
#1/2 - Creighton or Wichita State --- winner Saturday is No. 1, loser is No. 2.
#3 - Evansville, Indiana State or UNI --- UNI is No. 3 if it wins; UNI is No. 4 if it loses.
#4 – Evansville, Indiana State or UNI -- winner of UE/INS game is No. 4 – if UNI wins. UE/INS winner is No. 3 if UNI loses
#5 – Evansville or Indiana State -- loser of UE/INS game Saturday is No. 5 seed.
#6 – Drake or Illinois State -- Illinois State is No. 6 if it wins Saturday, or if Drake loses. Drake is No. 6 with a win AND an Illinois State loss
#7 – Bradley, Drake, Illinois State or Missouri State
· Illinois State is No. 7 if it loses AND Drake wins
· Drake is No. 7 if it wins AND Illinois State wins.
· Missouri State is No. 7 if it wins AND Drake loses.
· Bradley is No. 7 if it wins AND Drake loses.
#8 – Bradley, Drake or Missouri State
· Bradley is No. 8 if it loses AND Drake loses.
· Missouri State is No. 8 if it wins AND Drake wins.
· Drake is No. 8 if Bradley wins AND Drake loses.
#9 – Bradley, Drake or Missouri State
· Drake is No. 9 if it loses AND Missouri State wins.
· Bradley is No. 9 if it loses AND Drake wins.
· Missouri State is No. 9 if it loses.
#10 - Southern Illinois

Horseshoes & Hand Grenades
Creighton and Wichita State have played 29 games decided by 12 points or less during the 39 matchups since 1994-95. CU has gone 23-6 in those games.
Additionally, Creighton is 13-4 since 1994-95 in games vs. Wichita State decided by four points or less.
In his Wichita State career, Gregg Marshall is 2-4 in games decided by four points or less vs. Creighton and 17-27 overall in such contests.

Keep The Shockers Under 70
Since 1994-95, Creighton owns a 28-11 mark against Wichita State. One common theme for the Bluejays in those contests has been tenacious defense.
In that time, Creighton is 26-5 in the 31 match-ups when holding the Shockers under 70 points, but just 2-6 when WSU scores 70 or more.

Comeback Kids
Creighton has overcome a double-digit deficit to beat Wichita State six times since 2003, including last season’s meeting at Charles Koch Arena.
It also includes a 57-55 Bluejay win over the Shockers on Jan. 28, 2006 in which WSU had led 25-6 before eventually falling on a buzzer-beater by CU’s Anthony Tolliver. That remains the largest comeback victory in CenturyLink Center Omaha history.
Below is a list of those comebacks, listed by by size of the margin overcome:
Overcoming 10+ Point Deficits vs. WSU Since ‘03
Date Opponent Deficit Final Score
01/28/06 Wichita State 19 CU 57-55
02/02/08 Wichita State 15 CU 65-63
03/09/03 vs. Wichita State 13 CU 70-69
12/31/11 at Wichita State 11 CU 68-61
02/16/05 at Wichita State 10 CU 82-68
02/01/05 Wichita State 10 CU 73-69

Buzzer Beaters Galore
Nine of the last 16 Creighton/Wichita State games have been decided in the final seconds.
On Jan. 28, 2006 in Omaha, Creighton’s Anthony Tolliver hit a 15-foot baseline jumper as time expired to give the Bluejays a 57-55 win, capping a comeback from an early 25-6 deficit.
In the rematch on Feb. 14, 2006 in Wichita, Matt Braeuer drained a three-pointer with 0.5 seconds left in overtime to give the Shockers a 62-61 triumph.
On Jan. 15, 2007 in Wichita, Nate Funk’s game-tying trey in the final seconds was blocked by PJ Couisnard as WSU won 62-59.
On Jan. 12, 2008 in Wichita, Gal Mekel missed a three-pointer as time expired as Creighton won, 68-65.
In the Feb. 2, 2008 meeting in Omaha, Creighton overcame a 54-39 deficit in the final nine minutes to win a 65-63 contest. Dane Watts scored the go-ahead tip-in with 16.7 seconds left, then took a charge on WSU guard Gal Mekel with 11.1 seconds remaining.
The 2009 MVC Tournament might have been the most dramatic finish of them all. Wichita State overcame a 22-point second-half deficit to go ahead 62-61 on a Toure’ Murry three-pointer with 7.1 seconds left. Creighton would miss a shot as the clock ran to 0.0, only to have 1.9 seconds put back on the clock after a review of courtside monitors. Bluejay star Booker Woodfox would then catch an inbounds pass and drain a shot as time expired, giving Creighton the one-point victory.
On Jan. 16, 2010, Creighton held a four-point lead before WSU’s Clevin Hannah buried a three-pointer with 13.1 seconds left. Clinging to a tenuous 57-56 lead, Creighton played keep away as an anticipated foul from the Shockers never came.
On Feb. 23, 2011 in Wichita, Shocker senior Aaron Ellis sank a lay-up with 1.5 seconds left to give Wichita State a 67-65 lead. Doug McDermott missed a 30-footer off the rim as time expired. The game featured 16 ties and 17 lead changes, and neither team led by more than five points.
On Jan. 19, 2013 in Wichita, Creighton’s Ethan Wragge missed a pair of game-tying three-point attempts in the final 10 seconds as WSU held on for a 67-64 victory.

Scoring Record Within Reach?
Junior forward Doug McDermott enters Saturday’s game 51 points shy of becoming the leading scorer in Creighton history.
He’ll enter the game with 2,065 points, trailing only Bob Harstad (2,110) and Rodney Buford (2,116) on CU’s career list.
Creighton’s single-game scoring record is 51 set by Bob Portman in 1967, while McDermott’s career-high is 44 set last year at Bradley.

He Can Play In PeoriaDoug McDermott had his third straight dominating effort at Carver Arena on Wednesday, finishing with 32 points and 11 rebounds.
As a freshman, McDermott had 19 points and a career-high 17 rebounds at Bradley. Last season, he scored a career-best 44 points versus the Braves.
McDermott is averaging 31.7 points and 12.3 rebounds per game in three career games at Bradley. In the past two years, he’s made 30-of-40 field goal attempts.

Against The Best
Creighton owns a 3-3 record this season against top-50 RPI teams, including double-figure wins over Wisconsin, Akron and Cal.Doug McDermott has averaged 27.0 points in those contests, scoring 21 or more points in each game, while shooting 61.8 percent from three-point range.

The DistributorGrant Gibbs is well on his way to leading the MVC in assists for a second-straight season, something that hasn’t been done since Illinois State’s Jamar Smiley topped The Valley in three straight campaigns from 1995-98.
Gibbs 174 assists are seventh-most in Creighton single-season history, and he’s the first man in program history with multiple seasons of 170 assists or more.

The 700 Club
Creighton junior Doug McDermott leads the MVC with 683 points this season after owning a league-high 801 a year ago. He is the MVC’s first player with consecutive seasons of 650 points or more since Hersey Hawkins (Bradley, 1986-88).
McDermott’s 683 points are fifth-most in Creighton single-season history.
With 17 more points this season, McDermott will join Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird, Lewis Lloyd and Hersey Hawkins as the fifth player in MVC history with multiple 700-point seasons.

29 & 10 GuyDoug McDermott owns four games with 29 points and 10 or more rebounds this season. VMI’s Stan Okoye (5) is the only other player to do it as often or more this season.
It’s only happened 76 tims nationally, according to research by Valley publicist Mike Kern.

Will Power
Reserve center Will Artino provided a huge boost in Creighton’s 59-45 win over Southern Illinois on Feb. 19th.
The sophomore from Waukee, Iowa, tied his career-high with 13 points and added a season-best five rebounds. He made all six field goal attempts and saw a career-high 17 minutes of playing time.
Artino continued his strong play with 10 points and seven rebounds on Wednesday at Bradley.
Artino has now made 30 of his last 35 shots from the floor, good for an outstanding 85.7 percent.
Even when Artino misses, it’s not all bad. Creighton has won its last 23 games when Artino has a missed field goal, and is 28-1 all-time when Artino has a miss.

The Case For Creighton
Should Creighton not earn the automatic bid at Arch Madness in St. Louis, it’s built up a compelling case for an at-large bid. Consider the following (games through 2/28)...
-Creighton owns a top-45 RPI and ranks tied for 11th nationally with 23 Division I wins.
-Creighton is 3-3 against the top-50 and 7-5 against the top-100.
-Creighton is 9-5 away from home this season. Among BCS teams, only four schools (Duke, Miami, Louisville, Arizona) have more than nine road/neutral victories this year.
-Creighton’s seven true road wins are as many as BCS bubble teams North Carolina State, Missouri, Arkansas and Maryland...COMBINED.
-Creighton is tied for first place in the nation’s ninth-best league, the MVC.
-Creighton went 11-2 in non-conference action, including double-digit wins away from home over Wisconsin, Arizona State, California and Nebraska.
-Creighton also defeated current MAC leader Akron and preseason league favorites Saint Joseph’s and North Texas, all at home.
-Creighton is third in the nation in 3-point percentage and field goal percentage and ninth in points scored.
-Creighton reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
-Creighton has won at least one postseason game each of the last five seasons, and has won 20 or more games in 14 of the past 15 years.

Dealing With Full Houses
Creighton has played in front of 11 sellout crowds this season (7 at home, as well as road games at Nebraska, Wichita State, Northern Iowa and Saint Mary’s).
Last year’s Creighton team played in front of 10 capacity crowds.
Saturday’s game has been sold out for weeks. A limited number of standing-room-only tickets will go on sale at the CenturyLink Center Omaha box office at 10 am on Saturday.

Shockers Look For Three Straight
Wichita State has defeated Creighton in each of the past two years at CenturyLink Center Omaha.
Since 1998, the only team to post road wins at Creighton in three straight seasons was Southern Illinois, which had four such victories from 2004-07.

Toughest Thing in Sports?
Creighton just completed the end of a stretch where it plays four of five games on the road, where it tried to do something (win) that even the nation’s best college basketball squads have trouble doing.
The 25 college basketball teams that were ranked in AP poll on Jan. 18th are 71-73 since then in true road games (through Feb. 28).

Speaking Of The Road
Creighton finished this season with a 5-4 road record in Valley play. The only other MVC school with five league road wins is Wichita State (5-3).
Each of the last six times Creighton’s made the NCAA Tournament, it’s been 5-4 or better on the road in Valley play.

Rasmussen Named to MBB Committee
Creighton Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen has been appointed to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee.
Rasmussen’s five-year term begins September 1st. He will be the only newcomer to the committee for the 2013-14 academic year, replacing current chair Mike Bobinski.

Pretty Good Stretch
Creighton owns 52 wins in the last two seasons, 75 wins in the past three seasons and 93 wins during the last four years. All three totals are among the best stretches in school history, as seen below
Most Wins, 2-Year Stretch
W-L Years
52 2010-12
52 2001-03
52 2011-Present
49 2007-09
49 2002-04

His Own Game of H-O-R-S-EDoug McDermott led the nation last year with 307 field goals made, and his 237 buckets this year are once again leading the country.
Of McDermott’s 307 hoops last year, he made 56 baskets with his left hand and used the glass for 174 of his scores.
Though he’s playing away from the basket even more this season, his numbers remain impressive, as he’s used this left hand on 23 field goals and banked in a shot 109 times.
McDermott’s 237 field goals this season lead the country, even though he’s 14th nationally with 432 field goal attempts.
No player has led the country in field goals made in back-to-back seasons since at least 1995-96.

3-Point Specialist
According to data from Hoop-Math.com, only one player nationally has attempted a higher percentage of shots from three-point range than Creighton sharpshooter Ethan Wragge.
Wragge has attempted 154-of-165 shots from downtown this season (93.3 percent), just behind UC Davis’ Tyler Les (93.6), the son of former Bradley star player and head coach Jim Les.
Wragge is also in some other elite company, as MVC associate commissioner Mike Kern reports that Wragge is the first player in league history with 210 or more three-pointers (211) and 10 starts or less (7).

Comparing Teams
Last season Creighton had one of the nation’s most effective and most efficient offenses. With all but one regular from that squad back, we thought we’d take a second to compare the 2011-12 and 2012-13 teams through 30 games:
Stat 2011-12 2012-13
Record 25-5 23-7
FG Made 838 807
FG% .508 .505
3FG Made 246 263
3FG% .428 .418
FT Made 469 398
FT% .729 .748
Rebound Margin +5.5 +4.9
Assists 540 517
Turnovers 376 364
Scoring Average 79.7 75.8
Scoring Defense 69.5 63.5
Scoring Margin +10.2 +12.3

Racing Past 2,000 Points
After not having a player surpass 2,000 career points since 2003, the MVC had two players do it in the span of six days recently. Evansville’s Colt Ryan did it on Feb. 10th vs. Drake in his 117th career contest, and Creighton’s Doug McDermott did it against Evansville on Feb. 16th in his 101st career game.
Below is a list of the all the players in MVC history to 2,000 career points, the quickest MVC players to reach 2,000 points, and a listing of the nation’s players since 1995-96 to reach 2,000 career points in 101 career games or less, and some other notable players nationwide who reached 2,000 career points with how long it took them to reach the milestone.
All-Time MVC Scoring Leaders
Rk. Name, School Points
1. Hersey Hawkins, Bradley 3,008
2. Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati 2,973
3. Larry Bird, Indiana State 2,850
4. John S. Williams, Indiana State 2,374
5. Mitchell Anderson, Bradley 2,341
6. Steve Harris, Tulsa 2,272
7. Cleo Littleton, Wichita State 2,164
8. Xavier McDaniel, Wichita State 2,152
9. Colt Ryan, Evansville 2,142
10. Rodney Buford, Creighton 2,116
11. Bob Harstad, Creighton 2,110
12. Doug McDermott, Creighton 2,065
13. Roger Phegley, Bradley 2,064

More About 2,000 Points
Some additional notes about the 2,000 point club.
-Before Colt Ryan did it on Feb. 10th, the MVC’s last player to score 2,000 points in a career was Southern Illinois’ Kent Williams (1999-2003).
-This year marks the third time in MVC history that two men joined the 2,000 point club in the same season. It previously happened in 1984-85 (Steve Harris & Xavier McDaniel), then again in 1998-99 (Rodney Buford & Marcus Wilson).
-The Feb. 16, 2013 match-up between Colt Ryan (Evansville) and Doug McDermott (Creighton) marked the first time since March 1, 1999 that two players in the faced each other as members of the 2,000 point club. That match-up was also between Creighton & Evansville, as Rodney Buford’s CU team defeated Marcus Wilson’s UE squad in the 1999 MVC Tournament final. Buford had 21 points, while Wilson scored 16.
-Doug McDermott is the first player in MVC history to reach the 2,000 point milestone during his junior season. The only other men to reach 2,000 in three years were Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson, though both men played their sophomore through senior seasons at their respective schools.

Arena Records Within Reach
Numerous facility records could fall in Creighton’s final home game at CenturyLink Center Omaha this season. The chart below shows what is needed to SET (not tie) the record in the building. See pages 26-27 for more details.
Season Records Within Reach
Name Needs StatDoug McDermott 15 Points

1K to 2K
Creighton’s Doug McDermott went over the 1,000 point milestone in his 57th career game (last year at home vs. SIU) and just surpassed 2,000 in game 101 at Evansville on Feb. 16th.
McDermott had 1,018 points (17.9 ppg.) and 433 rebounds (7.6 rpg.) in his first 57 games while shooting 44.9 percent (80-179) from 3-point range.
Since then, McDermott has scored 1,047 points (22.3 ppg) and grabbed 365 rebounds (7.8 rpg.) in 47 games while shooting 48.8 percent (81-166) from three-point range.

Call It A Comeback
Creighton trailed 31-15 early at Evansville on Feb. 16th before pulling off a much-needed comeback.
It was the second comeback from double-digits down in a victory this season (also UAB), and eighth in the last two seasons. Impressively, five of those comebacks have come away from home.
Below is a list of Creighton’s 11 comebacks from down 15 points or more since 2000. Notably, Creighton’s comeback at UE was CU’s third-largest away from home in that time.
Overcoming Large Deficits, Since 2000
Date Opponent Deficit Final Score
01/28/06 Wichita State 19 W 57-55
11/27/01 Western Kentucky 18 W 95-91 2ot
02/12/03 Missouri State 17 W 70-67 ot
11/09/07 DePaul 17 W 74-62
11/30/11 at San Diego State 17 W 85-83
03/18/08 Rhode Island 17 W 74-73
11/16/08 New Mexico 16 W 82-75
02/04/06 at Drake 16 W 72-67 ot
01/26/03 TCU 16 W 89-79
02/02/08 Wichita State 15 W 65-63
02/16/13 at Evansville 15 W 71-68

McDermott Earns MVC AwardsDoug McDermott has been named MVC Player of the Week seven times this season, the most by any player in one season in league history.
His first honor came Nov. 12th for his performance in a Nov. 9 win vs. North Texas. McDermott had 21 points and 11 rebounds to produce CU’s first double-double in a season-opener since Kyle Korver in 2001-02.
He was then honored on Nov. 26th after averaging 25.3 points and 7.3 rebounds while earning MVP honors of the Las Vegas Invitational.
McDermott was honored on Dec. 10th after averaging 28.5 points in wins vs. Nebraska and Akron.
McDermott was honored on Dec. 17th after scoring 34 points and hauling down nine rebounds in a win at Cal on Dec. 15th. He was also named National Player of the Week by Seth Davis (CBS/Sports Illustrated) and the USBWA for that performance.
His fifth honor of the year came on Jan. 14th after he averaged 27.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in wins over Missouri State and Drake.
McDermott averaged 27.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in wins vs. Missouri State and Bradley to win his sixth award on Feb. 4th.
Most recently (Feb. 18th), McDermott averaged 18.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists as Creighton while becoming the first junior in league history to surpass 2,000 career points.
McDermott now owns 12 career MVC Player of the Week honors, something only Bradley great Hersey Hawkins (14) can top. His seven honors this year surpass Hawkins’ 1987-88 campaign (6) for the most ever in a single-season.
Including his seven MVC Newcomer of the Week honors in 2010-11, McDermott has won at least one weekly award from the MVC in 19 of 48 weeks since enrolling at Creighton.

Reasons For Optimism
Creighton’s recent three-game losing streak, though rare, doesn’t mean there’s not time to right the ship. Consider the following championship teams from the past 24 months, and how they were able to recover:
2011 New York Giants (NFL) - Lost 4 in a row during weeks 11-14...won Super Bowl.
2010-11 Indiana State Sycamores (MBB) - Fell to 12-12 on the season (7-6 in the MVC) with its fifth straight loss on Feb. 5, 2011, only to rebound to win the MVC Tournament title.
2010-11 Connecticut Huskies (MBB) - Went 4-7 from Jan. 29-March 5...won NCAA title.
2010-11 Dallas Mavericks (NBA) - Three different losing streaks of 3 or more...won NBA title.
2010-11 Boston Bruins (NHL) - Three different losing streaks of 3 or more...won Stanley Cup.
2011 St. Louis Cardinals (MLB)- Six different losing streaks of 3 or more...won World Series.
2011-12 Creighton Bluejays (MBB) - Lost three games in early February...won next seven including MVC Tournament and NCAA Second Round game.
2011-12 Los Angeles Kings (NHL) - Two different three-game losing streaks...won Stanley Cup.
2011-12 Miami Heat (NBA) - Twice lost three straight games in strike-shortened season, then had to rally from a 3-2 deficit in Eastern Conference finals vs. Boston...won NBA title.
2012 San Francisco Giants (MLB) - Had five losing streaks of three or more and lost first two games in best-of-5 NLDS series at home...won World Series.
2012 Baltimore Ravens (NFL) - Lost in weeks 13, 14 and 15...won Super Bowl.

10 Conference Wins x 17
Creighton has extended its MVC record by winning 10 or more league games for a 17th consecutive season, picking up the 17th victory on Saturday at Evansville.
On a national basis, the only other current school with at least 17 straight years of 10 or more league wins is Kansas (19 straight, including this season).
This is also Creighton’s 17th straigth season the Jays have finished fourth place or better in the MVC as well.

Johnson & More Johnson
Redshirt freshman guard Nevin Johnson has seen his role increase in recent weeks. The Houston, Texas, native has scored 28 points in the past seven games after scoring 23 total points in CU’s first 23 games.
Johnson had nine points and four rebounds vs. Illinois State on Feb. 9, then had three points and four rebounds at UNI on Feb. 13. Creighton outscored UNI the Panthers 32-21 in the 19:04 with Johnson on the floor.

McDermott Through 100 Games
Creighton junior Doug McDermott played in his 100th career game on Feb. 13th at UNI.
He is the first Bluejay since Ryan Sears (1997-2001) to start the first 100 games of his career. Here’s a look at the stats from some other recent notable Creighton players through 100 career games.
First 100 Career Games
Name Pts ReboundsDoug McDermott 1,980 768
Rodney Buford 1,799 584
Bob Harstad 1,626 888
Chad Gallagher 1,508 695
Kyle Korver 1,306 480
Nate Funk 1,144 324
Ryan Sears 1,061 326
Ben Walker 951 530
Kenny Lawson Jr. 896 517
Dane Watts 830 498
Anthony Tolliver 782 443

Supporting CastDoug McDermott is Creighton’s only player averaging in double-figures, but he’s had lots of support to help lead the Jays to 23 wins already.
Creighton is 12-2 when Gregory Echenique (9.6 ppg.) scores in double-figures this year.
Creighton is 9-0 when Ethan Wragge (7.7 ppg.) scores in double-figures this year.
Creighton is 7-1 when Austin Chatman (7.6 ppg.) scores in double-figures this year.
Creighton is 5-2 when Jahenns Manigat (6.1 ppg.) scores in double-figures this year.

Poll Position
Creighton received one vote in this week’s USA Today Coaches poll, but did not garner any votes in the Associated Press poll. This is the first time in the last two seasons the Jays have not received a vote in one of the weekly polls.
Creighton’s program-record streak of 17 straight weeks in the AP’s top-25 was snapped when the Jays dropped out of the Feb. 11th edition.
Creighton’s best AP ranking this year was 11th on Nov. 26th, and its best coaches poll rank was 10th.
Creighton was ranked 15th in this year’s preseason coaches poll, its first preseason recognition since coming in at No. 23 in 2006-07.
Creighton started this year with a No. 16 preseason ranking by the AP, its highest preseason mark in program history and the best by any MVC school since No. 6 Wichita State in 1981-82.
Including the February 25th poll, Creighton has been ranked 26 times in 54 weeks of polls under Greg McDermott, and ranked between 26th-to-28th in five other polls. The 26 weeks in the top-25 under McDermott is more than any coach in Bluejay history.
Coaches Spending Most Weeks in Top 25 at CUGreg McDermott, 2010-Pres. 26 (of 54)
Dana Altman, 1994-2010 18
Tom Apke, 1974-81 5
Eddie Sutton, 1969-74 5

20 Wins, Again
Creighton has won 20 or more games for the 14th time in the last 15 seasons, an unprecedented feat in Missouri Valley Conference history that puts the Jays among an exclusive group, nationally.
Entering this season, just five schools nationally have had 20 or more wins each of the last 14 years: Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas and Syracuse.
Creighton was one of six schools to enter this season with 20 or more wins in exactly 13 of the past 14 years. That list consists of Creighton, Kent State, Kentucky, Texas, Utah State and Xavier.
That’s better than traditional powers Arizona, Connecticut and Memphis (12 each) and also ahead of Michigan State, Pittsburgh and Wisconsin (11 each).
Creighton secured its 25th all-time 20-win season with a victory on Feb. 2nd, the second-fastest its ever been (by calendar) to that milestone.
Most 20+ Win Seasons, Last 14 Years (2/28)
Seasons* School 2012-13 W-L Next Game
14* Gonzaga 28-2 3/2
14* Duke 24-4 3/2
14* Kansas 24-4 3/2
14* Florida 22-5 3/2
14* Syracuse 22-6 3/2
13* Creighton 23-7 3/2
13* Kentucky 20-8 3/2
13 Utah State 19-8 3/2
13 Xavier 16-11 3/2
13 Kent State 16-12 3/2
13 Texas 13-15 3/2
*20-win seasons list above does not include 2012-13

Historically After 12 MVC Games
Creighton was 9-3 in the MVC after its 12th game of the league slate. This is the 18th straight season that Creighton has had a league record of .500 or better after 12 games, and also the 18th straight year the Jays would go .500 or better in its final six contests as well.
Year W-L After 12 W-L Final 6
2012-13 9-3 3-2 so far
2011-12 11-1 3-3
2010-11 6-6 4-2
2009-10 7-5 3-3
2008-09 8-4 6-0
2007-08 7-5 3-3
2006-07 9-3 4-2
2005-06 9-3 3-3
2004-05 6-6 5-1
2003-04 9-3 3-3
2002-03 11-1 4-2
2001-02 10-2 4-2
2000-01 8-4 6-0
1999-00 7-5 4-2
1998-99 7-5 4-2
1997-98 8-4 4-2
1996-97 7-5 3-3
1995-96 6-6 3-3
Total 145-71 (.671) 69-38 (.645)

About The Final Seconds
Creighton’s Feb. 13 game at Northern Iowa was the first (and only) time all season that Creighton had a lead change in the final five minutes. Unfortunately for CU, its 48-45 lead was squandered as it lost 61-54.
Last year’s Creighton team went 5-1 in games that went to overtime or had a lead change in the final five minutes of regulation and were 7-1 in games decided by six points or less.

Grand PoobahDoug McDermott has scored 1,060 points in his first 54 career home games. He is the all-time leading scorer in CenturyLink Center Omaha history.
McDermott also owns CenturyLink Center Omaha career records in points per game (19.6) and rebounds per game (7.5).
McDermott enters Saturday’s game with 2,065 career points in all venues, good for third in school and 12th in MVC history.
In case you’re curious, CU’s all-time leading scorer, Rodney Buford, scored 1,056 points in 56 career home games at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.

MVC’s Best On The Road
In addition to owning one of the MVC’s best home-court advantages, Creighton has easily posted the league’s best record in MVC road games since 2000-01 as well.
Creighton is 64-53 in MVC road games in that span, a win percentage of .547. A distant second is Southern Illinois (53-63, .461). As a league, the road winning percentage has been .345 in the same span.
MVC Road Records (since 2000-01)
Team W L Pct.
Creighton 64 53 .547
Southern Illinois 53 63 .457
Wichita State 51 65 .440
Northern Iowa 48 69 .410
Missouri State 43 74 .368
Drake 34 83 .291
Illinois State 33 83 .284
Bradley 30 86 .259
Indiana State 25 91 .216
Evansville 21 96 .179
All MVC Teams 402 763 .345

Over .500, Again
Creighton has been better than .500 in either the first or second-half of the league season in 35 straight trips through the league, including both halves this year.
Creighton’s 35 consecutive halves above .500 in league play is easily the Valley’s longest active streak, with Wichita State next closest at eight.
Here’s how Creighton’s teams have fared in the various halves of the MVC season since 1995-96.
Year 1st Half 2nd Half
2012-13 7-2 5-3 so far
2011-12 8-1 6-3
2010-11 5-4 5-4
2009-10 5-4 5-4
2008-09 5-4 9-0
2007-08 5-4 5-4
2006-07 6-3 7-2
2005-06 7-2 5-4
2004-05 5-4 6-3
2003-04 7-2 5-4
2002-03 8-1 7-2
2001-02 8-1 6-3
2000-01 5-4 9-0
1999-00 5-4 6-3
1998-99 6-3 5-4
1997-98 5-4 7-2
1996-97 5-4 5-4
1995-96 4-5 5-4
Total 106-56 (.654) 108-53 (.671)

Scoring Frenzy
No player has scored more points in the last two seasons than Doug McDermott, who owns the top spot on that list with 1,484 points in that span. Next up in a distant second on that list is South Dakota State’s Nate Wolters (1,381).

Give Him The Oscar!
Creighton junior Doug McDermott is one of 12 players selected by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association for its 2013 Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List. Members of the association’s board of directors chose the players to be included on the list as contenders for the Oscar Robertson Trophy presented by Aflac.
In addition to McDermott, other players under consideration are Anthony Bennett, Trey Burke, Michael Carter-Williams, Ben McLemore, Victor Oladipo, Kelly Olynyk, Mason Plumlee, Russ Smith, Deshaun Thomas, Jeff Withey and Cody Zeller.
The award is to be presented to the national player of the year by its namesake at the Devon Energy College Basketball Awards on April 15 at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award and the Integris Wayman Tisdale Freshman of the Year Award will also be presented at the gala to be held annually the Monday following the NCAA Men’s Final Four.

600 Point Club, AgainDoug McDermott is second in the nation with 683 points this season, his third straight season of 500 or more points.
He is the fourth player in Creighton history with three straight seasons of 500 or more points, joining Paul Silas (1961-64), Bob Harstad (1988-91) and Rodney Buford (1996-99).
McDermott, however, is the only player in CU history with three straight seasons of 550 points or more.

Could He Lead The Nation?Doug McDermott enters Saturday’s game ranked third in the nation in scoring. Virginia Tech’s Erick Green (24.9 ppg.) continues to lead the nation.
Green has scored between 20 to 36 points in 24 of his 27 games this season, but several tough tests remain in the ACC.
The odds don’t favor a player at a “BCS” school to finish as the scoring champ. Since 1971-72, the only guy playing at the “BCS” school to lead the nation in scoring was Purdue’s Glenn Robinson (30.3 ppg.) in 1993-94.

What A Start!
Now in his third year, Greg McDermott is 75-29 on the Creighton sideline. The 75 wins are easily the most in Creighton history in the first three seasons.
Most Wins at CU, First Three Seasons
Coach Years W-L After 3 YrsGreg McDermott 2010-Pres. 75-29
Tom Apke 1974-77 60-21
Eddie Sutton 1969-72 44-32
Red McManus 1959-62 42-33

Racing Past 70Greg McDermott enters Saturday’s game with 75 wins in his first three seasons at Creighton. According to research by MVC Associate Commissioner Mike Kern, McDermott’s 75 wins are fourth-most by a Valley coach in his first three years at a school.
Ed Jucker and Denny Crum both won national titles and are MVC Hall of Famers, while Crum is also in the Naismith and NABC Hall of Fame.
Most Wins, 1st Three Years at an MVC School
W-L Name, School Years
91-19 Forddy Anderson, Bradley 1948-51
84-7 Ed Jucker, Cincinnati 1959-62
78-26 Chris Lowery, Southern Illinois 2004-07
75-28 Greg McDermott, Creighton 2010-Pres.
71-31 Tim Jankovich, Illinois State 2007-10
70-19 Denny Crum, Louisville 1971-74

Emerging EcheniqueGregory Echenique scored in double-figures during eight straight games from Dec. 1st - Jan. 5th, but has reached double-figures in just four of 15 games since.
Creighton is 12-2 this year when Echenique scores in double-figures, and 37-13 all-time when he scores in double-figures.

Point, Counterpoint
No player in the MVC owns more assists in the past two seasons than Creighton senior Grant Gibbs’ 350. Earlier this year Gibbs became the 12th player (and second-quickest) in Bluejay history to 300 assists, doing it in his 56th contest.
MVC Assist Leaders, Since 2011-12
350 Grant Gibbs, Creighton
294 Jake Odum, Indiana State
229 Troy Taylor, Evansville

Elite CompanyDoug McDermott is averaging 22.8 points and 7.7 rebounds, while also shooting 47.2 percent from three-point range.
According to a graphic airing on ESPN on January 15th, McDermott could join Duke’s Christian Laettner and UCLA’s Tracy Murray as the only players in NCAA history to average at least 20 points, 7.0 rebounds while shooting 50 percent or better from downtown (min. 50 attempts).
Both Laettner and Murray did it in 1991-92, with Laettner taking home Wooden Award honors.

Strong On the Road
Off to a 23-7 start overall, Creighton is 9-5 away from home this season. Four of those victories have come against two Big Ten teams (Wisconsin, Nebraska) and two Pacific-12 teams (Arizona State, Cal).
Impressively, all four BCS wins have been by double-digits. Creighton is 8-1 in the past two years against BCS teams, including six victories by double-digits and another triumph by eight.

Winning Away From Home
Creighton won a school-record 15 games away from home last season. The Jays went 10-3 in true road games and were also 5-1 on neutral floors.
Creighton’s lone neutral-site loss came to North Carolina in a not-so “neutral” Greensboro, N.C., in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
This year’s team is 9-5 away from home, with four of those victories against a BCS school (Wisconsin, Arizona State, Nebraska, Cal) by double-digits, a 22-point win at Missouri State, a seven-point win at Illinois State, a 30-point win at Southern Illinois, a three-point win at Evansville and an 18-point triumph at Bradley.
This season was the first time since 1942-43 that Creighton has won its first six games away from home.
Each of Creighton’s last nine NCAA Tournament teams have won 10 or more games away from home, and eight of those teams had a winning record in true road contests.
Nation’s Best Offense?
You can make a case that Creighton has boasted the nation’s best offensive production so far this year.
Through games of February 24th, Creighton was third in the nation in three-point percentage (42.2) and field goal percentage (50.5), seventh in three-pointers per game (8.9) and sixth in two-point field goal percentage (55.9).
According to data from bbstate.com, no team since at least 2005-06 has shot better than 58.7 from two-point range.
Last season Creighton ranked third nationally in three-point percentage, making 42.4 percent from downtown.
The only team to ever lead the nation in both 3-pointers per game and 3-point percentage was Princeton in 1987-88.
The only team to ever lead the nation in both field goal percentage and three-point percentage was Northern Arizona 1998-99.

Defense! Defense!
Creighton ranked 222nd nationally last season in field goal percentage defense at 44.1 percent, one area that the program has tried hard to improve on in the off-season.
The results have been promising, as CU has limited foes to 41.2 percent marksmanship. That figure ranked 106th-best nationally in 2012-13 through Sunday’s games.
Only eight teams have shot better than 43.4 percent this season against the Jays in 27 games.
The 42 points by Nebraska on Dec. 6th were its fewest against Creighton since 1932, a span of 39 meetings.

Efficiency Improves
Because Creighton tends to play at a faster pace and have more possessions than the average school, Bluejay coaches place significant emphasis on stats like average points per possession, with data that can be found on a site such as bbstate.com.
Creighton’s offense is still clicking as one of the nation’s best, but the team has made huge strides on the defensive end of the floor, jumping from 222nd last year to 89th this season.
All but seven of Creighton’s first 29 opponents have been held under 1.03 points per possession this season.
Points Per Possession
2010-11 2011-12 2012-13
Offense 1.065 1.150 1.149
Offense Rank 46th 2nd 3rd
Defense 1.006 1.014 0.946
Defense Rank 192nd 222nd 89th

The BarometerJahenns Manigat led the MVC with his 49.2 percent marksmanship from three-point range in league play a year ago. When it came to CU’s nine MVC road games last year, he was the barometer.
In Creighton’s seven Valley road wins, Manigat shot a robust 19-of-27 (70.4 percent) from downtown. In CU’s two Valley road losses, Manigat was just 2-of-9 (22.2 percent) from downtown.
In Creighton’s five Valley road wins this year, Manigat was 13-for-20 (65.0 percent) from three-point range, while he was 1-for-11 (9.1 percent) from deep in CU’s four MVC road losses.

McDermott Goes For 39
Junior Doug McDermott had a season-high 39 points on Jan. 11th at Missouri State, scoring in nearly every conceivable way. Consider the following aspects of his performance:
-McDermott started the game 1-for-4 from the field, then sank his next 14 shots from the floor. When he missed his final shot of the game with 4:13 to go, the JQH Arena crowd gave a sarcastic Bronx cheer.
-McDermott scored Creighton’s first 18 points of the second half as the Jays extended a 32-27 halftime lead into a 50-32 margin.
-McDermott’s 39 points were seven more than the previous JQH Arena record.
-McDermott outscored Missouri State by himself in the second half, 28-25, and outscored MSU 35-34, in the final 26:16 of the contest.
-McDermott became the first player in the country this season with 39 points and 10 or more rebounds in the same game this season.
-His 28 points in the second half were the most by a Creighton player in a half since he scored 31 in the second half of his 44-point performance at Bradley on Jan. 7, 2012.
-McDermott’s 39 points are tied for the most in the MVC by any player this season with Wichita State’s Cleanthony Early.

Jays Reach 10 Home Wins, Again
With a Jan. 8th win vs. Drake, Creighton won its 10th home game this season. Creighton has now won 10 or more home games in 17 straight seasons.
The streak is easily a school-record, five more than the previous standard of 12 straight seasons from the 1969-70 season to the 1980-81 campaign with 10 or more home wins.

Wragge = Instant OffenseEthan Wragge had 22 points in just 17 minutes vs. Drake on Jan. 8th, sinking six three-pointers for the fourth time in his career.
It’s the second time in Wragge’s career he’s had 20 or more points in 17 minutes or less, having gone for 21 points in 17 minutes as a freshman vs. Xavier.
Before Wragge arrived on campus four years ago, no other Creighton player had 20 or more points in 19 minutes or less since Vernon Moore put up 21 points in 19 minutes against Nebraska-Kearney on Nov. 24, 1984.

Filling It UpEthan Wragge is fourth in the MVC with 65 three-pointers made this season, giving him 211 in his career. That places him fourth in Creighton history.
All three men ahead of him, as well as the man behind him, were named MVC Tournament Most Outstanding Player at some point in their careers.
Most 3FG Made, Career
3FG Name Years
371 Kyle Korver 1999-03
245 Ryan Sears 1997-01
212 Rodney Buford 1995-99
211 Ethan Wragge 2009-Pres.
200 Nate Funk 2002-07

Midseason Wooden Award List
Creighton forward Doug McDermott is the lone MVC representative on the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25. Selected by the Wooden Award National Advisory Board, the list is made up of 25 student-athletes who, based on their performances in November, December, and the beginning of January, are the frontrunners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor.
The Wooden Award All American Team, consisting of the nation’s top 10 players, will be announced the week of the “Elite Eight” round of the NCAA Tournament. The John R. Wooden Award Player of the Year presented by Wendy’s will be announced on ESPN during the Final Four Weekend in Atlanta. The 2013 Wooden Award Gala presented by Wendy’s will take place April 11-13, 2013, at The Los Angeles Athletic Club.

Get Your Tickets!
Creighton fans have already purchased 4,000 lower bowl all-session tickets for the MVC Tournament, which will be March 7-10 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. The mark shatters the previous MVC record for sales by a school set by Bluejay fans last year (2,575).
To join the Creighton contingent at Arch Madness with a purchase in the upper-bowl, call the CU Ticket Office at 402-280-JAYS.

Three-Point Barrage
Creighton started MVC play shooting the daylights out of the ball, making 50 percent or better of its 3-point shots in six straight games for the first time in program history.
The Jays were 12-of-24 from downtown vs. Evansville, went 13-of-25 at Illinois State, were 11-of-22 from deep vs. Indiana State, an absurd 16-of-27 vs. Drake, 9-of-17 from long-range at Missouri State and 6-of-12 vs. UNI.
Creighton’s four-game stretch to start league play was the first time since January of 2008 that Creighton’s had four straight games with 10 or more three-pointers.
Creighton’s 16 three-pointers vs. Drake were tied for second-most in school history, tied for 10th-most in MVC history and the most in the MVC in 2012-13. The league record for three-pointers in a game is 20, done by Creighton (vs. Chattanooga on 2/19/05) and later matched by Bradley vs. Florida A&M on Nov. 21, 2006.

Army of Iowans
Every Creighton team since 1988-89 has had at least one Iowa native, and this season is no exception.
Creighton has four players from Iowa on this season’s team, continuing a long trend of relying on some of the Hawkeye State’s top preps. CU’s Iowans this season includes senior Grant Gibbs (Marion), junior Doug McDermott (Ames), sophomore Will Artino (Waukee) and redshirt freshman Alex Olsen (Council Bluffs).
Other past notable Iowans include Kyle Korver (Pella), Ryan Sears (Ankeny), Brody Deren (Harlan), Tyler McKinney (Urbandale) and Nate Funk (Sioux City).
Creighton has played at least one Iowa native in 615 straight games. That streak dates to a Feb. 5, 1994 win against Wichita State. In that time, 931 of Creighton’s 3,075 starts (30.3 percent) can be attributed to Iowans. Here’s a list of the Iowans and how many starts they’ve made during this run:
Creighton’s Starts By Iowans, Since 2/5/1994
Ryan Sears 124Doug McDermott 104
Nate Funk 99
Kyle Korver 95
Michael Lindeman 94
Tyler McKinney 89
Brody Deren 89Grant Gibbs 65
Joel Templeman 57
Kaleb Korver 46
Pierce Hibma 27
Adam Reid 24
Casey Harriman 16
John Klein 2

Big Man In The MiddleGregory Echenique scored in double-figures in eight straight games from Dec. 1st - Jan. 5th.
Echenique’s 65.3 percent marksmanship from the field leads The Valley is on pace to approach not only the Creighton (67.4%) mark, but also the MVC single-season mark (also 67.4%) as well.
It’s also worth noting that Echenique ranks third in Creighton history with 158 career blocked shots. Echenique also ranks 13th in Rutgers history with 94 career swats, where he spent the first three semesters of college.
Most Blocked Shots, Creighton History
(Since 1979-80)
Blk. Name Years
411 Benoit Benjamin 1982-85
183 Chad Gallagher 1987-91
158 Gregory Echenique 2010-Pres.
153 Kenny Lawson Jr. 2006-11
138 Brody Deren 2001-04
136 Anthony Tolliver 2003-07

RPI Update
Through games of February 27, Creighton is ranked 40th in the RPI according to WarrenNolan.com, while Wichita State ranks 39th.
Creighton owns 10 wins against RPI teams in the top-104. By comparison, defending national champion Kentucky has six such wins.
As a league, the MVC is the ninth-best conference nationally.

Honors Roll InDoug McDermott picked up two big honors in early January, adding to his collection.
ESPN.com named McDermott the National Player of the Month after a December that saw him average a nation-best 26.5 points per game while shooting 57.5 percent from the field, 57.6 percent from three-point range and 88.9 percent in the line in six Creighton victories.
McDermott was also named the Lute Olson Award Midseason National Player of the Year honoree. McDermott was named the Lute Olson Award National Player of the Year at the end of last season.
McDermott has been named Midseason National Player of the Year by such experts as Seth Davis, Dick Vitale and Andy Katz.

Let’s Get It Started
Creighton won its first six MVC games this season before falling at Wichita State.
As good as Creighton’s been since rejoining the MVC in 1977-78, it was just the second time the program has started 6-0 in league play in that span. Each of the previous two teams to start 5-0 in league play would go on to win the MVC Tournament.
Creighton’s Best MVC Starts, Since 1977-78
Start Year Finish/Place
7-0 2002-03 15-3/2nd (won MVC Tourney)
6-0 2012-13 ? ? ?
5-0 1988-89 11-3/1st (won MVC Tourney

Conference Starts Are Big
Since 1993-94, only one team (Northern Iowa, a 2008-09 co-champion) has won at least a share of the regular-season title without winning its league opener. In fact, 16 of the last 18 regular-season champs (or co-champs) have opened 2-0 or better in MVC play, with UNI in 2008-09 and Wichita State in 2011-12 serving as the exceptions.
This season the only MVC teams to start 2-0 were Bradley, Wichita State, Creighton and Indiana State.

Unbeaten December
Creighton went 6-0 in December wrapping up an unbeaten December with a victory over Evansville on Dec. 29.
Since 1946-47, Creighton’s only two other teams to go unbeaten in December were in 2003 and 2008.
The 2008-09 team went 9-0 in December and would go on to win a share of the MVC regular-season title.
The 2003-04 squad finished tied for second in the MVC. That team began the season 12-0 before suffering an overtime loss in a game hosted by Northern Iowa and its then-coach, Greg McDermott.

Consistent Challengers
Ten of Creighton’s last 15 teams have finished either first or second in The Valley’s regular-season race. Two of the five that didn’t won the MVC Tournament.
The Bluejays won the MVC in 2000-01 and tied for the title in 2001-02 and 2008-09. CU was second in the MVC in 1997-98 and 2006-07, tied for second in the MVC in 1998-99, 2003-04 and 2005-06, and finished tied for third in 2004-05. The 1999-00 club was fourth in the MVC, but won the MVC Tournament, while the 2010-11 club tied for fourth place.
This year’s team is already assured a top-two finish, which would be a 16th straight season.
Creighton’s MVC Finishes, Last 15 Years
1st Place 2000-01
Tied for First 2001-02 (won MVC Tourn.), 2008-09
2nd Place 1997-98, 2002-03 (won MVC Tourn.),
2006-07 (won MVC Tourn.), 2011-12 (won MVC Tourn.)
Tied for 2nd 1998-99 (won MVC Tourn.), 2003-04, 2005-06
Tied for 3rd Place 2004-05 (won MVC Tourn.)
4th Place 1999-00 (won MVC Tourn.); 2007-08; 2009-10
Tied for 4th Place 2010-11

Coaches vs. Cancer Summary
As part of the nationwide American Cancer Society Coaches Vs. Cancer event, men’s basketball fans were encouraged to wear pink to promote cancer awareness and participate in the “Creighton Vs. Cancer Pink Out” game when the Bluejays hosted Bradley on Saturday, Feb. 2.
Bluejay players wore pink shooting shirts and pink jerseys for the game and fans had the opportunity to honor a friend or family member who has battled cancer or is currently battling cancer by purchasing the apparel via auction (the shooting shirt could be personalized – last name, nickname, etc.).
The first 14,000 fans entering the venue on February 2 received a complimentary pink t-shirt courtesy of Alegent Creighton Health and Methodist Estabrook Cancer Center.
Last year’s Creighton vs. Cancer jersey auction raised more than $20,600. This year’s auction raised $24,444. An additional $7,239.17 was raised from at-the-door collection, bringing the total to $31,683.17. Seven jerseys sold for more than $1,000. Below is a list showing what each jersey sold for:
Jersey #00 $2,025
Jersey #1 $1,125
Jersey #2 $860
Jersey #3 $5,002
Jersey #4 $406
Jersey #5 $2,550
Jersey #10 $3,050
Jersey #11 $510
Jersey #12 $1,020
Jersey #13 $450
Jersey #22 $910
Jersey #23 $585
Jersey #24 $960
Jersey #30 $556
Jersey #31 $710.01
Jersey #34 $1,025
Jersey #50 $510

Doing It All
Reigning MVC Player of the Year Doug McDermott has one of the nation’s best set of post moves, and now the junior forward is taking his skills to the perimeter with similar success.
Eight days after tying a career-high with five-three pointers in a 29-point thrashing of Atlantic-10 favorite Saint Joseph’s, McDermott shot 6-for-8 from downtown in a 77-61 win over defending MAC champion Akron on Dec. 9th.
McDermott’s career 45.7 percent accuracy from three-point range ranks tops in CU history. Since starting his career 15-of-53 (28.3 percent) after 20 games from downtown, McDermott has made 146-of-301 three-pointers (48.5 percent) in his past 84 games.
McDermott averaged 13.6 points in his first 20 games at Creighton, and has averaged 21.35 points in his past 84 games with the Jays.

Full House
This year’s Creighton team ranks sixth nationally in average home attendance, averaging 17,064 fans per game.
The figure ranks ahead of 14 NBA teams, and would rank 17th in the NBA this season.
In 2011-12, Creighton finished sixth nationally in home attendance, averaging 16,665 fans per home game. It’s the sixth straight season that CU has been among the nation’s top-25 in average home attendance, and set an MVC average home attendance record.
Creighton has now surpassed 200,000 home fans in a season for the eighth time. No other school in the history of the MVC has ever done so even once.
Creighton also ranked seventh nationally in men’s soccer attendance and 10th in baseball attendance, the nation’s only school in the top-10 of those three sports in 2011-12.
2012-13 Attendance Leaders (3/1)
Rk. School Average Next Home
1. Kentucky 23,028 3/9
2. Syracuse 21,870 3/2
3. Louisville 21,398 3/4
4. North Carolina 19,045 3/3
5. Indiana 17,405 3/2
6. Tennessee 17,104 3/9
7. Creighton 17,064 3/2
8. Wisconsin 16,820 3/3
9. BYU 16,505 3/2
10. Kansas 16,456 3/2

Creighton’s Exclusive 30/30 ClubDoug McDermott scored 30 points in a Dec. 9 win vs. Akron, then followed that performance with a season-high 34 seven days later at Cal.
McDermott, who leads the MVC with 23.7 points per game, became the first Creighton player with 30 points in consecutive contests since Bob Harstad in 1990.
McDermott also scored 30 or more in consecutive wins vs. Missouri State and Northern Iowa in January.

Jones Hangs Up High TopsJosh Jones was hospitalized prior to Creighton’s Dec. 6 game at Nebraska after he fainted during pre-game warm-ups on the Bob Devaney Sports Center court prior to Creighton’s 64-42 win.
Jones was released from a Lincoln hospital on Dec. 7th. Jones was underwent a nine-hour medical procedure on Dec. 18th, and on Dec. 26th announced his basketball career is done due to an atrial flutter.
The senior guard was averaging 7.0 points per game as the team’s top guard off the bench.
Creighton outscored the opposition 249-92 off the bench in eight games with Jones, but has been outscored 399-385 off the bench since he’s been out of the line-up.

Might As Well Jump
Creighton is 14-3 this season when Gregory Echenique wins the opening tip. Creighton’s streak of 20 straight wins when winning the jump ball to start the game ended in its Jan. 23 loss at Drake.
Creighton is 44-12 all-time when Echenique wins the opening tip, but 17-10 when he loses the tip.

Pizza Pie, Piled High = Wins
Thanks to a promotion with Omaha-based Godfather’s Pizza, Creighton season ticket-holders can get a free mini pizza any time the Jays score 75 points at home.
History has proven that when the team earns the fans pizza, it often leads to a victory as well.
The first three years of CenturyLink Center Omaha (2003-06), Creighton needed 70 points to earn its fans free pizza, and the Jays went 27-3 when reaching that threshold, closing out that run with 12 straight wins.
Since upping the standard to 75 points prior to the 2006-07 campaign, Creighton is a perfect 66-0 when scoring 75 points or more at CenturyLink Center Omaha.
In other words, Creighton is a perfect 78-0 in CenturyLink Center Omaha since Feb. 6, 2005 when scoring enough points to earn its fans some free pizza.

A New Streak
Since Greg McDermott took over three years ago, Creighton is averaging 77.93 points per home game (4,208 points in 54 home games).
That’s a vital number since Creighton is 89-0 at home (62-0 at CenturyLink Center Omaha) when scoring 78 points or more and 71-0 at home (48-0 at CenturyLink Center Omaha) when scoring 80 points or more at home dating to a 92-83 loss to Southern Illinois on Feb. 19, 2000.

Stat Leaders
Statistically, Creighton ranks among the nation’s top-20 in seven different categories through games of Feb. 24th. The Jays are third in the nation in three-point percentage (.422) and in field goal percentage (.505), seventh in three-pointers per game (8.9), fourth with 17.2 assists per game, fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.43), ninth in points (2,195) and 18th in scoring margin (+12.1).
The only team to ever finish a season leading the nation in both 3-pointers per game and 3-point percentage was Princeton in 1987-88, while the only team to ever lead the nation in both field goal percentage and three-point percentage was Northern Arizona 1998-99.
Individually, Doug McDermott is fourth in points per game (22.4), 38th in field goal percentage (.542), 44th in free-throw percentage (.855), 68th in double-doubles (8) and 118th in rebounds per game (7.6). Grant Gibbs is 18th in assist/turnover ratio (2.63) and 28th in assists per game (5.7). In addition, Gregory Echenique ranks 108th in blocked shots per game (1.59), 141st in double-doubles (5) and 236th in rebounds per game (6.7). Also in the top-125 are Ethan Wragge, who is 124th with 2.24 three-pointers per game, and Austin Chatman who ranks 123rd with 4.2 assists per game and 105th with a 1.91 assist/turnover ratio.

Big Road Win
Creighton’s 64-42 win at Nebraska matched its largest victory margin in a true road win since an 82-60 win at Southern Illinois on Feb. 14, 2009.
It was also the largest margin in a non-conference road win since winning at Drexel, 72-48, on Dec. 1, 2007.
Before Dec. 6th, last time Creighton won a true road game by 22+ points vs. a BCS-league team was 12/18/76 at Oregon State (90-68).

Scoring On The Badgers
Creighton scored 84 points on Nov. 23rd against Wisconsin’s vaunted defense that has ranked among the nation’s top-10 in scoring defense in each of the past six seasons.
It was the first time in either of the last two seasons that Wisconsin had allowed 80 points in a game, and the eighth-most allowed in regulation in Bo Ryan’s 12 years as a head coach.

Third-Year Coaches UpdateGreg McDermott was one of 53 head coaches hired to coach a school prior to 2010-11. His 75 wins in that span are easily the most of that group, and McDermott, Tad Boyle (Colorado) and Dana Altman (Oregon) are the only men to win a postseason game each of their first two seasons.
Below is a list of the new coaches with 65 or more wins at their school since being hired.
School Coach W-L Next Game
Creighton Greg McDermott 75-29 3/2
Oregon Dana Altman 68-34 3/7
Colorado Tad Boyle 67-34 3/2
Iona Tim Cluess 65-33 3/1

Austin Powers
After spending last year as a back-up to Antoine Young, sophomore Austin Chatman has taken over as Creighton’s starting point guard. Creighton’s been blessed with a legacy of some of the MVC’s best point guards in the last 15 years, a streak that began with four-year starters Ryan Sears (1997-2001), Tyler McKinney (2001-05) and Josh Dotzler (2005-09) at the point before Young ran the offense while starting the last three years.
Here’s a look at the stats, by year, of the men that Chatman is trying to replace.
Freshman Sophomore
Name PPG APG CU W-L PPG APG CU W-L
Sears 10.5 4.8 18-10 8.7 4.0 22-9
McKinney 4.3 2.1 23-9 5.0 4.1 29-5
Dotzler 6.4 4.2 20-10 2.2 2.0 22-11
Young 4.9 1.4 27-8 7.1 3.1 18-16
Chatman 2.4 1.9 29-6 7.6 4.3 23-7

Quick Starts Key To Playing in Postseason
Creighton has started off 3-0 (or better) in 12 of the previous 14 seasons. Each of Creighton’s previous 13 3-0 starts have been culminated in a postseason tournament appearance at the end of the year.

Not Half BadDoug McDermott outscored Presbyterian 20-17 in the first half in a Nov. 18 win. It was the second-most points McDermott has ever had at halftime, and the fourth-highest half of his career.
McDermott’s highest scoring half of his career has been 31 points, done last year in the second half at Bradley when he scored a career-best 44 points.
McDermott has scored 15 points or more in a half 41 times during his career, and Creighton is 35-2 in those contests (four times he’s scored 15 or more in both halves).
McDermott owns seven halves in his career with 20 or more points, and just six scoreless halves.

Rare AirGregory Echenique had one of the best all-around games of his career on Nov. 14 in the win vs. UAB, finishing with 13 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots. For good measure, he made 5-of-5 shots from the field and was a perfect 3-for-3 at the line.
Echenique was the first Bluejay with at least 13 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots in the same game since Benoit Benjamin had 15 points, 17 rebounds and four swats on Feb. 28, 1985 at Dayton.
Echenique was the first Bluejay to have a 13/16/4 game at home since Benjamin had 26 points, 18 rebounds and seven rejections in a win vs. Marquette on Jan. 27, 1985.
Incredibly, Benjamin had nine different games in his junior season with at least 13 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks before Echenique ended the 27-year drought.

Playing With The Lead
In 169 games at CenturyLink Center Omaha all-time, Creighton has not trailed in 41 of those contests, a staggering 24.3 percent of the time, including seven wire-to-wire wins at home last season and five wins (Longwood, Saint Joseph’s, Tulsa, Drake, Southern Illinois) this season.
Creighton has trailed by double-digits in 37 career games at CenturyLink Center Omaha, only to rally to win 22 of those contests.

On The Trail
Creighton won six games last season after trailing by 10 or more points, including wins away from home at San Diego State and at Wichita State, on neutral floors vs. Drake and Alabama, and in home triumphs over Long Beach State and Evansville.
In its Nov. 14 win vs. UAB, Creighton trailed 45-35 in the second stanza, only to rally for a 77-60 win. It was the first time since Feb. 3, 2010 (vs. Evansville) that Creighton trailed by double-digits at any point before rallying to win by double-figures. That UAB game was also the first time in CenturyLink Center Omaha history that Creighton trailed by double-figures in the second half, yet still won by double-digits.
Creighton has two comebacks from 10 or more down this season, having done so vs. UAB (10) and Evansville (16).

Milestone Man
Because he’s split his college career between Rutgers and Creighton, you might not realize the rather impressive college stats being generated by Gregory Echenique.
Echenique owns 1,303 points, 949 rebounds and 252 blocked shots in 134 games as a collegian. He and Bucknell’s Mike Muscala are the nation’s only active players with 1,250 points, 900 rebounds and 250 or more blocked shots.
Had all those stats been generated at Creighton, Echenique would rank 20th in career points, fifth in career rebounds and second in career blocked shots at CU.

I Know What You Did Last Summer
Senior center Gregory Echenique played for coach Eric Musselman on the Venezuelan National Team last summer, alongside the likes of former Maryland star and current Memphis Grizzlies guard Greivis Vasquez.
Echenique averaged 7.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in two games at the FIBA Olympic Qualifier in Caracas in July against Lithuania and Nigeria, where he went head-to-head against NBA players such as Linas Kleiza, Jonas Valanciunas, and Al-Farouq Aminu.

Double-Double OpenerDoug McDermott opened his junior season with 21 points and 11 rebounds on Nov. 9 against North Texas in a 71-51 win.
He was the first Creighton player to have a double-double in a season-opener since Kyle Korver opened his junior campaign with 14 points and 10 rebounds in a 72-51 victory over North Carolina A&T.
Korver would go on to earn MVC Player of the Year accolades as both a junior and as a senior. Last year McDermott was the first player in MVC history named MVC Player of the Year as a sophomore.
Creighton has won either the MVC regular-season title or MVC Tournament each of its previous six seasons it had a player with a double-double in the opener (2001-02, 1999-00, 1998-99, 1990-91, 1989-90, 1988-89).

Preseason MVC Poll
Creighton was picked to win the Missouri Valley Conference in the preseason poll of league coaches, SID’s and media. The Bluejays earned 38-of-40 first-place votes and 398 points overall.
Illinois State was second with 327 points and the remaining two first-place votes, while Northern Iowa was third with 316 points. Wichita State (298) and Evansville (240) rounded out the upper half of the league.
In sixth was Drake (184), while Indiana State (165), Missouri State (122), Bradley (84) and Southern Illinois (66) round out the rest of the league predictions.
Creighton junior Doug McDermott was named preseason MVC Player of the Year. He’s joined on the team by repeat selections Jake Odum (Indiana State) and Colt Ryan (Evansville) as well as new picks Ben Simons (Drake) and Jackie Carmichael (Illinois State).
Creighton’s women were also picked to win the MVC, just the third time in league history the MVC favorites came from the same schools.

Portman To Enter MVC Hall of Fame
Bob Portman will enter the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame on March 8, 2013, during a banquet at the MVC Tournament in St. Louis, Mo.
Portman played for Creighton from 1966-69 and averaged 24.6 points and 12.9 rebounds per game during his college career.
Portman owns the Creighton records for single-game scoring (51), single-season scoring average (29.5) and career scoring average (24.7). He is also second for points in a season (738) and ranks fifth in career points (1,876), rebounds (979), free throws (382) and field goals made (747).

Postseason x 15
Creighton has made the postseason in 15 consecutive seasons, the longest streak of postseason bids in MVC history.
The only eight schools to make the postseason in each of the last 14 years are Creighton, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State and Syracuse.

Postseason Win Streak
Thanks to an NCAA Tournament win over Alabama, the Creighton men’s basketball team has now won a postseason game in a school-record five straight seasons. The previous mark was three in a row from 1962-64.
The following eight programs are the only ones that have won a postseason game in five straight seasons, including 2011-12: Creighton, Kansas, Kansas State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Syracuse and Wisconsin.

Long-Distance Streak Alive
Creighton has made at least one three-pointer in a league-best 638 straight games since a 59-53 loss at Illinois State on Feb. 20, 1993. That’s the longest active streak in the MVC.

CenturyLink Center Omaha Success
Creighton has played 169 regular and postseason contests at CenturyLink Center Omaha all-time in its 10 seasons at the facility.
The Bluejays own an 144-25 (.852) record all-time at the facility, and have never lost there on a Thursday (7-0) or Friday (6-0).
Creighton has outscored its opponents 12,704-10,709 in games at CenturyLink Center Omaha, an average margin of 11.8 points per game. Creighton has led wire-to-wire 41 different times, including seven times last season and five times this winter (Longwood, Saint Joseph’s, Tulsa, Drake, Southern Illinois).

Piling Up The Points, and Wins
Creighton has won 57 straight games when scoring 90 points or more, dating to Jan. 11, 1988.
Creighton has won 19 straight (at all sites) when scoring 100 points or more, dating to Feb. 26, 1977.

Here’s To History
With the 2012 MVC Tournament title, Creighton head coach Greg McDermott became the first head coach in league history to win a Valley Tournament title at more than one school.
McDermott previously won a title in 2004 at Northern Iowa. The 1988 Northern Iowa grad McDermott also holds the honor of being the first coach in league history to win an MVC Tournament title at his alma mater.

Dance Partners
Only two schools won their league tournament in both men’s and women’s basketball in 2011-12: Creighton and South Dakota State.
This was the fifth time in MVC history that the same school has won the men’s and women’s tournament titles in the same season. Creighton, however, was the first program to do it twice (UNI 2010, Creighton 2002 and 2012, Missouri State 1992, Illinois State 1983).

McDermott A Preseason All-American
Junior forward Doug McDermott became the first player in MVC history to be named a preseason First Team All-American by the Associated Press. The team was announced on October 28th.
McDermott earned acclaim on 62-of-65 ballots, trailing only Indiana’s Cody Zeller. The rest of the team consisted of Isaiah Canaan (Murray State), Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State), Trey Burke (Michigan) and C.J. McCollum (Lehigh).
The preseason All-America team was first announced in 1986-87.

Watch This!
Junior Doug McDermott is on the preseason watch lists for both the Wooden Award and the Naismith Award, two of the top awards in college basketball.
McDermott is the only man who was a finalist for either award to return to school this season.
The Naismith Award is presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club and will be presented on April 7, 2013, in Atlanta.
The Wooden Award is presented by the Los Angeles Athletic Club and will handed out the weekend of April 12-13, 2013, in Los Angeles.

Everybody’s All-AmericanDoug McDermott hauled All-America honors on a regular basis last year.
He was named a First Team All-American by the Associated Press, NABC, USBWA, Basketball Times and ESPN.com, and a second-team selection by The Sporting News and CBSSports.com. He was also named to the 10-man John R. Wooden Award All-America team.
Prior to McDermott, the only other player honored by the USBWA with All-America status had been second-team selection Kyle Korver in 2003, and the only prior NABC selections from Creighton had been second-teamer Paul Silas (1964) and third-team selections Benoit Benjamin (1985) and Kyle Korver (2003).
Last year McDermott was named CollegeInsider.com’s Lute Olson National Player of the Year. He was also a finalist for the Naismith and Wooden Award, though Anthony Davis won both awards.

Scoring In NumbersDoug McDermott owned 801 points in 35 games last year, an average of 22.9 per contest that ranked him third nationally in scoring.
McDermott’s 22.9 points per game ranked fourth-most in CU single-season history and were the most since Bob Portman averaged 26.2 points per game in 1968-69.
Portman, who finished fifth nationally in scoring in 1967-68 (29.5 ppg.), was the only previous Bluejay to ever rank in the top-10 of the year-end scoring leaders.
McDermott’s 22.9 points per game made him the first MVC player over 20 points per game since Illinois State’s Tarise Bryson (2000-01) and the most by a MVC player since Northern Iowa’s Randy Blocker (23.0 ppg.) in 1993-94. Bryson had been the only MVC player since 1989 to rank in the top-five nationally in scoring.
No Bluejay had averaged more than 20 points per game since Bob Harstad’s 22.2 average in 1989-90.

Oscar, Bird, DougDoug McDermott set a Creighton (and MVC) record for points by a freshman with 581 in 2010-11. Last season, McDermott had 801 points, the most single-season points in school history by any player.
McDermott’s 1,382 points after two seasons were the most in school history by a player in their first two seasons, passing Bob Portman (1,195). According to STATS Inc., the only other players since 1996-97 with at least 1,382 points or more by the end of their sophomore season had been Davidson’s Stephen Curry (1,661 points from 2006-08), Eastern Washington’s Rodney Stuckey (1,438 points from 2005-07) and VMI’s Keydren Clark (1,497 points from 2002-04).
He became just the third sophomore in MVC history to reach 800 points in a season, trailing only Oscar Robertson and Larry Bird on that list. His 801 points from last year rank 10th-most in MVC single-season history and were the most by any Valley player since 1988.
Below is a list of the most prolific sophomore scorers in MVC history, as well as the top single-season scorers in Creighton history (all classes):
Top Scorers, MVC History (All Years)
Pts. Name, School Years
1125 Hersey Hawkins, Bradley 1987-88
1011 Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati 1959-60
984 Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati 1957-58
978 Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati 1958-59
973 Larry Bird, Indiana State 1978-79
959 Larry Bird, Indiana State 1977-78
918 Larry Bird, Indiana State 1976-77
844 Xavier McDaniel, Wichita State 1984-85
815 Lewis Lloyd, Drake 1979-80
801 Doug McDermott, Creighton 2011-12
788 Hersey Hawkins, Bradley 1986-87
788 Willie Biles, Tulsa 1972-73

Familiar Fives
Creighton utilized the same starting line-up all season long in 2011-12, as Gregory Echenique, Doug McDermott, Grant Gibbs, Jahenns Manigat and Antoine Young started all 35 games.
According to STATS Inc., the only schools with the same starting five every game were Creighton, Missouri, Nevada, Wisconsin and Youngstown State.
Of those five schools above, the only team to use the same starting five for every game in 2012-13 is Creighton.

Last Season Recap
Creighton went 29-6 and reached the third round of the MVC Tournament last season. Creighton started the year 7-0 to move into the Associated Press top-25, a spot they would hold for 12 of the final 15 weeks.Doug McDermott ranked third nationally in scoring (22.9), scoring a school-record 801 points. He became the first sophomore named MVC Player of the Year and was a consensus First Team All-American.
Point guard Antoine Young (12.1 ppg., 4.5 apg.) was a second-team all-Valley pick, while center Gregory Echenique (9.7 ppg., 7.3 rpg., 1.6 bpg.) was named MVC Defensive Player of the Year. In addition, Grant Gibbs was runner-up for MVC Newcomer of the Year accolades after dishing a league-high 176 assists.
The Jays ranked second nationally in field goal percentage (.504), third in three-point percentage (.424), fifth in assists (17.6), sixth in home attendance (16,665) and ninth in scoring offense (79.2).
Creighton finished the regular-season second in the MVC before winning its league-record 11th Valley Tournament title to clinch an NCAA bid. At the NCAA’s, Creighton topped Alabama 58-57 before falling to No. 4 North Carolina.

Creighton Will Host in 2015, Again
The NCAA announced on Nov. 12, 2012, that Creighton will serve as the host institution on March 20/22, 2015, when the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament returns to CenturyLink Center Omaha for second/third-round games.
This will be the third time in a seven-year span the arena has hosted, having previously done so in 2008 and 2012 to much acclaim.
CenturyLink Center Omaha has previously hosted NCAA finals for women’s volleyball (2006, 2008) and wrestling (2010), as well as the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Swimming (2008, 2012). This January, it will host the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Ticket Information
Single-game tickets for the 2012-13 season went on sale on October 29th at 10 am.
Fans can purchase single-game tickets at CenturyLink Center Omaha Box Office, Ryan Athletic Center, all Ticketmaster locations (Baker’s, Younkers), Ticketmaster online at http://www.ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster and charging by phone at (800) 745-3000. Only upper bowl seats will be available for any game and cost is $12 for adults and $8 for youth ages 3-18 (children two and under are free). For more information, call the Creighton Ticket Office at (402) 280-JAYS.

Shuttle Service Provided Again
Chief Bus will provide complimentary shuttle service from the Creighton University campus to CenturyLink Center Omaha for all men’s basketball home games this season. The service is available to all fans, not just Creighton students.
The shuttle will start 75 minutes before tip-off and shuttles will continue to operate the route during the game. The three designated stops for pick-up around the CU campus are: 24th & California (nearside/southbound); 20th & Cass (nearside/eastbound) and at Billy Blues Alumni Grill (outside the Mike & Josie Harper Center in the turnaround which is on the east side of the building).
The shuttle will then go eastbound on Capitol Avenue and then go north up 10th Street for drop-off at the CenturyLink Center Omaha convention center entrance. The route is designed for each shuttle driver to make a roundtrip every 15 minutes.
Following the game’s conclusion, the shuttle will start at the CenturyLink Center Omaha convention center entrance on 10th Street and loop the original route with the first of three stops at 24th & California Streets.